Where are you Paul Harvey?

For people of a certain age you remember how broadcaster Paul Harvey would have a little tidbit where he gave a deep dive into a story,  fact, or event and told an aspect we might not have known - the rest of the story. 

We were at the grocery yesterday getting the fixins for Christmas dinner when one of the jerks who walks around the store holding up his phone with the speaker on walked by. Normally these people irritate me to no end, but this time I was intrigued. Here is the snippet of the conversation I heard:

“We was out in the front yard pokin’ a raccoon with a fuckin broomstick when…” 

Just then the wife asked something and I missed the rest. Paul Harvey I need you to tell me the rest of the story. 

Sunday

 

One of my favorite carols

It begins

A busy day is on tap this Saturday before Christmas. The granddaughters have a dance recital this afternoon. We have the Christmas get-together tonight with the wife’s family. We still need to purchase gifts for the White Elephant event there. 

The wife is stressed, time is short, money is shorter, and life moves apace. 

All is well.

The reindeer are carb loading in anticipation

 It is snowing. But not sticking. With a slight warmup on the way early next week there is no chance for a white Christmas. So it goes. It’s not like it is Vermont this time of year or anything. 

You probably suspect I’m going to drop a video of old Bing crooning away. How wrong you are little elf.

I will present one of my favorites:

Whole lot of nothing

It has been a slow work week, everyone is winding down in preparation for the holidays and I’m no exception. I took my last vacation day for the 23rd so I will have nearly a week off after tomorrow. 

The air bubble in my eye has nearly subsided. It obscures about 10% of the bottom of my vision, unless I look down then I have a big black spot blocking my vision like a lunar eclipse. The whole thing has reached the annoying stage. A day or two more and my vision will hopefully be clear. I go back to the surgeon Monday and I hope I get a great follow up report. 

Future UNESCO heritage site.

The homestead under a distant full moon all decked out in Christmas lights. 

The windows in the upper left are my office, where the blogging magic happens. I’m pretty sure it will be a national shrine someday. 

For the turd human beings out there

I’m gonna be blunt, if you support Luigi the murderer, then you are a piece of shit human being and I invite you to never stop by here again. 

No matter what you think about insurance companies, murder isn’t the answer. 

I’m not joking. Be gone. 

Not covering my ears like a postmaster general

My email in-box is filled to almost overflowing. Since I wasn’t supposed to read I did no work at all Thursday, Friday, or over the weekend. I have to get back at it today, even if I’m not supposed to read (eyes tracking left to right and right to left). 

I did spend most of the weekend watching old movies. Since I can not bend over or lift anything, I did no chores around the house either. 

In all it was a wasted weekend. 

The songs are tedious

 One of the political issues that dominated the end of the Nineteenth and early Twentieth Centuries was should the US Dollar be backed by gold or by silver. 

The Wizard of Oz was an allegory of that debate. Fat cats in Emerald City in the east wanted the streets paved with gold (yellow brick road) while the Witch in the west (miners) wanted the silver slippers (they were silver, not ruby). Interspersed in the tale were brainless farmers (scarecrow), heartless industrialists (tin man) and a cowardly lion (government). 

We went to the oldest granddaughter’s tenth birthday party yesterday. She took a bunch of friends to see Wicked. 

None of that stuff about gold and silver was in the movie.

I’m also certain at no point would Dark Side of the Moon sync with this version of the Wizard. .

Short and sweet

I went for a quick post-op visit to the eye surgeon yesterday. He says all is good. I still can’t see at all out of my right eye, there is a purposeful air bubble blocking my vision. It’s like looking through water at a fun house mirror. It will go away in the next days. Posting will remain light.

I lied

 

How can Friday the 13th be bad when it is pay day?

In case you are wondering, this is a canned post. Didn’t you hear that rush of air when you opened it? 

Kinda live: everything went well. Thanks for your support. 

Fair Warning

I head for another eye surgery in the morning. The man is going to open my eyeball, cauterize the bleeder and clean out the accumulated blood blocking my vision. I anticipate no issues. I had to have the same procedure on my left eye about a year ago. 

There will be no post tomorrow. There will probably be no post Friday. I would put up a stupid music video, but YouTube is being a bitch and refusing to play unless you sign in. Neither of us is going to do that. I don’t care that much.

I’m pretty sure no one is going to lose sleep over missing a few posts around here. It’s not like you are getting much for your subscription price these days. 

I will resume blogging at some point. Probably.

I doubt the blog quality will improve with better vision. I’ll just be able to see the keyboard better as I type worthless words that entertain no one. 

About that Mac and cheese

I grabbed a few quick grocery items for supper last night; a pack of Echrich smoked sausage, a block of cheese, and a box of macaroni. For a good while a small block of Walmart brand cheddar cheese has been $1.98. Suddenly yesterday that same cheese was a $2.24. If my history major math is correct, that is a 13% increase. Tell me again inflation is easing. Oh wait, the government does not include food in the inflation calculation. 

The point of this mini rant is there were two main reasons Trump won the election and neither was the sex or skin color of his opponent. The reasons were the open border and the economy. 

Narcissist Trump believes we voted for HIM as opposed to policies. Maybe some of you did. But here’s the thing, if he slaps on tariffs like he is boasting, your prices are going to skyrocket. That means in four years the communists will be back in charge. We don’t want that.

Why would you care?

Yesterday the wife grabbed her cookie cutters and rolling pin and motored over to the daughter’s house for a day of making cookies. 

I watched a movie, vacuumed the carpet and floor, and ran the dishwasher. These were minimum effort chores. I decided I deserved a reward anyway. It was warm for a December Sunday so I threw on a jacket and moseyed out to the patio. I lit the fire pit and then a nice stogie. I put in my earbuds and listened to some more of the audiobook I started on my way home from Maryland last week. 

The cigar was nice, relaxing on the patio doing and thinking about nothing was better. 

It's the hap-happiest season of all

 

Is there anything in this house that works?

A three foot section of Christmas lights on the front of the house is out. I’m hoping it is a broken bulb from the high winds the other night. Probably not. I’ll have to drag out the ladder and replace the whole string. Fortunately I have a new box of lights. So it goes. 

Edit: I cannot believe I nearly forgot to mention today is Pearl Harbor day! It is one of the defining moments in American, if not global history. 

I published a VERY rough draft of my Pearl Harbor story a few weeks ago. I should have saved it. 

Friday Follies

 I took this picture a few weeks ago of the sunset and the ice rink at the Carmel Kriskindlemarkit. 

Here is a fun fact: I’ve never been ice skating. Ever..

I’m pretty sure I never drove I-68 before

I’m back from my two day trip to Maryland. I’m none the worse for wear, mostly. I pulled into the drive thirteen minutes short of 3AM, the stretch from mid-Ohio to home was brutal with sleet, snow, and very high winds. In all yesterday was a twenty plus hour endurance event. Bad weather and construction slowed my speed to make the trip home longer than expected. Yet here I am after four hours or so of sleep. I am either a machine or stupid. You decide.  In any case I’ll be drained by early afternoon. 

I finished one audiobook and started another on the trip. The last couple of hours I switched to music because I had a greater need to concentrate on the road rather than be entertained. 

When this song come on I backed it up and played a second time because I wanted to:

Road Tripping

 I’m out on the east coast for a Supplier Conference with my Big Customer. It seems there are about 100 suppliers here. Today we will get harangued for cost reductions and offered enticement in the form of look at the new products you could be part of if… It’s okay, I’ve been to this particular dance in one form or another  countless times in my career. 

On the bright side I opted to drive instead of fly, so I got in some windshield time. I listened to a good audiobook and enjoyed being on the road. 

Sometimes I think I miss being a road warrior and then I travel for a few days and realize I do not. A handful of nights in a hotel a  year are just perfect in my old age. 

List, Liar

Biden pardoned his kid for all crimes going back to 2014. Curious on that date, since that’s when Hunter started working for the Ukrainians. 

I guess you liberals who rant about lax gun laws and how the rich need to pay their fair share are all over this pardon for tax evasion and broken gun laws, right?

That beef burrito isn’t sitting so good in my stomach

Ah yes, it is time for the old fallback when searching for something to write - a useless weather report. It is eighteen Fahrenheit with a windchill of seven degrees right now in Mudsock. One would think it was mid January. 

The wife is nearly done turning the house into a Christmas wonderland. As always, it is done with taste and pizazz. 

The long holiday weekend has been nice. Of course the emails keep on coming. I won’t read them until Monday. 

I think I’ll try to do some work on the next novel later this morning. Because reasons the first half of the book needs to change from first person to third person. I’m editing and rewriting at the same time and it is tedious beyond measure. Worse, I know I’m going to miss replacing some of the “Is” and “Mys” and I’m going to have to reread and edit many times to catch them all. 

The change isn’t as simple as doing a search and find because often the whole sentence and paragraph has to be changesd to make the new perspective work. I’ve found the story is driving itself, and I need some characters to do stuff over here in this place and a first person narrator is somewhere else. I can find no way to jump back and forth with any kind of sense. I probably need to admit this book writing stuff is not my forte. 

Dressed in holiday style

 

Electricity made easy

The wife bought some new ceiling lights for the kitchen about a month ago. They were cheap from Amazon. The old chandeliers have hung in three different houses and are easily 30 years old. I’m pretty sure they were expensive at the time (I did not ask). Now the wife is looking for a less primitive country look and moving to more farmhouse. That’s what she tells me,  they are just new hanging lamps as far as I’m concerned. 

Wednesday afternoon I took the old one down, wired the new one just to make sure it works before actually hanging it. The lamp lit even though the switch was off. Something isn’t right and I can’t figure it out, after many attempts and plenty of checking I’m stumped. It doesn’t help that the contractor was pretty free with paint so it is difficult to figure out black vs white. 

I moved and replaced the one over the island with little trouble. 

A more experienced buddy is coming today to help me with the one over the table. 

What confuses me, is I’m the one who put up the previous light with no trouble. 

I’m not sure why a simple home repair always turns sour. 

Happy Thanksgiving

 What are you doing here? Go watch a parade or something.

Tanks Fer Everyting

In March I will have been at this goofy hobby for 20 years. I have written more than eight thousand posts. Even if the majority of my writings are complete crap, that’s still a lot of words. Sure, some of you have been at it longer. You are the reason I started in the first place. 

A lot of bloggers have come and gone. My sidebar used to be much longer. So it goes. So I suppose I earn a point or two for perseverance. 

The real point of this post is to thank you. Without you, Dear Reader, there would be no point in the exercise. So, Thank you. 

Explain it all with a sigh

 A cold front is coming, I can hear the wind outside and the wreaths on the outside of my office window are shifting and rubbing against the glass. It is okay, cold and stormy fits my mood. 

I took yesterday off. It was grandparents day at the girls’schhol. I’ll have two quick days of work and then a long weekend. I have to travel the following week. Before you know it it will be the Christmas-New Year. 

For some reason I am just not in my normal holiday jolly mood. 

Go forth and enjoy your Tuesday. 

PS You are in my prayers . I know this week is hard. 

Second verse same as the first

 

Hmph

Blogger isn’t cooperating and I won’t either.

The snow is melted

It is still dark on this late November Saturday. My coffee is hot. Music gently plays in the background. 

I got a work email last evening informing me we are finally approved on a chunk of new business I’ve been chasing for nearly a year. It will be about $4 million in sales. I was so thrilled I even sent a text to my boss at 8:30 ladt night. He was pretty happy too. 

I’m not sure what tasks the wife has planned for today. There is no end of stuff that needs done, the question is what are her priorities?

Have a great day.

Friday Thoughts

His place is back along a tree line overlooking a ravine and small stream. The undergrowth is of typical Hoosier variety; mulberry. sassafras, wild blackberries. At first, he had few neighbors and it was not unusual to see tracks of deer, of fox, of the omnipresent squirrels in the winter snow. Over time, there came more neighbors, and I was saddened, but not surprised, when bulldozers cleared a large swath of trees nearby. This part of Hamilton County is among the fastest growing areas in the country.

I used to visit him every week, then once a month. Now, I talk with him a handful of times a year. It is not fair of me. He got me through the most depressing and darkest times of my life. When I said I could not go on, he told me "Not today, things will get better. Not today." 

I smile when I think about how he wrestled with his little sister laughing and shouting, his older sister supervising with a wry grin. There are the ball games, the soccer games, school plays. All fictitious memories that never happened. The baseball and pleather glove I gave him lie unused. The ball rotted away a few years ago. The glove lies cracked and faded. On each visit I think of him as he would be, growing older, playing, going to school, not how he is, a little baby boy who lived but a day.

I will go visit him Monday to celebrate a bittersweet birthday. Tuesday is a black anniversary I will try unsuccessfully to forget.  

Next Friday I will go down and put a little metal Santa Claus next to his grave as I do every year. 

And life goes on, the way of the Lord mysterious. 

Snow, snow, snow

 Imagine my shock to find the ground covered in fresh snow this morning. The driveway snd  pavement are clear, it was too warm to stick to concrete. There is not a lot of the white stuff, enough to cover the leaves still on the front lawn. It must have snowed a lot, the ground has to be warm. Temperatures hit seventy Fahrenheit on Tuesday. We have not seen sub-freezing in weeks, if at all this season. 

I’m tempted to break out the snow song from the movie White Christmas, but I’ll refrain. 

It is beginning to look..,

Temperatures hit the upper sixties yesterday. It was spectacular weather for a mid November day. The weather quacks were warning the spate of nice weather is about to change with wind, rain, and even snow in the forecast. With that in mind I knocked off work a bit early to get the outside Christmas  decorations on the house. My neighbors across the street had the same idea. 

I’m skeptical about snow sticking on the ground Thursday. It has been so warm I just don’t see it. There are still flowers blooming in the pot on the porch! 

I know, it would be weird to discover the weather forecast is wrong!

I wanted all of these bleeping trees

I came home from the doctor yesterday morning and decided to rake some leaves since I took 1/2 day vacation. 

I raked the entire front yard. 

The front lawn is covered in new fresh leaves this morning.  *#%@&$.

Start the day off right

Happy Monday. I’m off in a bit to the eye doctor again. I’ll let you know, but I suspect I am going to have to have surgery. The gel separation is worse and I can only see about 50% in my right eye. Maybe not, I did not sleep at a Holiday Inn Express last night and my medical degree is non-existent. 

Edit: i am going back under the knife in a few weeks. Oh, and I thought I attached this song this morning. 

As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly

Cappy says we cannot go into the holiday season before the WKRP turkey drop and he is right. Thanksgiving is an artificial construct, the date has changed often in our nation’s history including when FDR fiddled around with the official date. 

Here’s the thing. We are having our family Thanksgiving today. Two-thirds of my kids and their related offspring and significant others will be on hand at the old homestead to feast and enjoy one another’s company. I will be tired and stressed to make sure everything is finished on time and fit to eat. It is just after 5:00 AM and I’m already plotting the cooking schedule. 

It will be without remorse when I drag out the Christmas decorations next weekend.

The turkeys have dropped. 

What?

I love Christmas and everything about it. We decorate the house inside and out. I enjoy the music, the food, spending time with family. Most of all I love Christmas movies - the classics, the Hallmark ones, the cartoons, the newer flicks. 

Last night the wife and I went to see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. It is terrific. It may be in my top three favorite Christmas movies ever. 

So I looked up some reviews when I got home to see if my opinion was valid or if I was high on seasonal endorphins. Most people agreed it was pretty good. One person gave it a 1 out of 10. Their reason? I’ll have to paraphrase, “I went to see a Christmas movie, instead I got a religious lesson. The whole thing was about church and the birth of Jesus.” 

Sometimes words fail me. 

How long until baseball starts?

I started working a part time job at 13. I saved every penny and my first purchase was a stereo. My brother sold me a pair of speakers on credit and I was in business. I next bought a turntable and the world of music was opened to me. 

My first records were the popular tunes of the day. Soon I delved into Zepplin, Yes, Blue Oyster Cult, Jethro Tull, and  the Stones. Sure, I played my parents Herb Albert albums. I lived to hear music. 

Now for a lot of people that passion led to learning to play an instrument, alas I lacked that talent. What I could do was lay on the floor between the speakers and hear each instrument individually. I could pick out the bass, the drums, the rhythm guitar from the whole of the song. I would listen to a song over and over studying the parts that made up the whole. 

I could slip on my what was then very good Koss headphones and go into an almost trance. 

A couple of years later I added two more speakers. I had two Utah speakers with 12” woofers and two Pioneer speakers with 10” woofers in my little 8x10 bedroom. When mom and dad were at work I could literally shake the windows in our modest pre-fab National Home. I’m sure the neighbors loved me. 

I tell you this because it is Friday and that means Friday music. So for little 100 pound teen me, lying perfectly still in complete concentration I give you this:

Not hers

 The wife and I went to Subway for lunch yesterday. 

This is how they identified my sandwich vs hers.

I found it amusing. 

We have seen some much needed rain in the past 24 hours. One result is the leaves finally are falling. Right now my front yard is ankle deep with wet leaves. I hope I can get some of them cleaned up over the weekend.. 

We are hosting an early thanksgiving dinner Sunday. Turkey and the works is on the menu. The kids have other plans on actual Thanksgiving, so this is the only available weekend. 

I had hoped to start dragging Christmas decorations out, this weekend but that will have to wait. I  suspect between the leaves and dinner there is not enough time. 

Humping extra hard on hump day

I’m up and at it early this morning. There is no particular reason, I woke around 3:30AM and couldn’t get back to sleep. I dozed a bit and finally got up just shy of 5:00. So it goes. 

I have plenty to do. I have a couple of conference calls today. I have a bunch of studying on tap. One of my colleagues is leaving the company (a better opportunity, so good for him) and I picked up half of his accounts. So a busier job is a good thing. Transitioning accounts is always tricky, especially this time of year when the holidays and end of year vacations makes customer visits difficult to arrange. 

It will all work out. 

Not one mention of the weather

Little things amuse me. You might have concluded I was late getting a blog post up yesterday. Nope I scheduled it to go live at 11:11AM on purpose. 

Or you might not care at all and mutter under your breath “Joe, you narcissistic jerk, I didn’t even notice you did not post until late.” Valid point indeed. 

I raked up a couple of bags of leaves from the front yard before I realized the wind was just blowing more all over the portion I had just cleaned. I went inside to watch an old episode of Emergency! Instead. 

We had pork chops, baked spuds, and green beans for dinner last night. 

Frankly, I don’t know why you would care about any of this. 

Veteran’s Day

 

For the millions who served to make us free.

Fun for everyone

 

“New Oldsmobiles are in early this year.”

One more thing

I intended to be done with politics for a while. Instead I have one more thing to say to those who think they are about to be “killed”. If you have a position on abortion and feel like you are not being heard, then you should take up the issue with your state legislature and governor. 

Abortion (I refuse to call it women’s health) is a state issue just like the requirements to get a drivers license or if you can carry a gun. You may not like it, but that is the way it is.

Frankly, abortion was a losing platform for the Democrats because someone in Michigan cares nothing about the laws in Alabama. 

PS I guess i have two things. How do you Democrats now feel  about eliminating the filibuster and packing the Supreme Court? 

Yesh, that’s what I thought.

Here, I will tell you

Democrats and liberals are in total meltdown over the election. “How can this happen? “They ask. 

I will tell you. 

Trump is a horrible human being. If the Republican Party ran anyone else I would have voted for him/her. But I voted policy not personality. 

If you want to know when my vote for Trump was solidified, it was the ridiculous convictions over the payoffs to Stormy Daniels. If a reasonable person were to ignore the name Trump, you would agree the whole thing was Banana Republic-type bull. 

Quit demonizing people who disagree with you on policy. Anyone to the right of Mao isn’t Hitler. I am sick of being called a racist. To show how silly this plan of attack has become, Latinos were called racist because they failed to vote for Kamala. Seriously. I heard a nitwit on TV actually say "a majority of Americans have rejected democracy." That very well may be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. Failure to toe the Democrat talking points does not make one a fascist. 

 Screaming and crying over the election makes you look beyond silly. No one lost a single right on Wednesday they had on Tuesday. The constant hyperbole is exhausting. I don't think some of you liberals understand what "literally" means. Literally, no one is literally killing you. The whole thing makes you look unserious and I won't vote for unserious people.

The Democratic party could not provide a definition of a woman until they nominated one for President. See above about unserious people. Women have worked too hard to suddenly have to fend off mentally ill people in the restroom or on the playing field. 

Reasonable people can disagree. I was embarrassed by the events of January 6, but it wasn't an insurrection and the "worst event since the Civil War" pundits made it out to be. It was a bunch of idiots protesting. It was only slightly worse than the protests from the left when Trump was inaugurated in 2017.  The events were nothing compared to the riots in the wake of George Floyd. 

I voted my best interest. Lowering the rate of inflation does not mean prices are going down, it means they aren’t rising as fast. Anyone who can promise to help relieve the price increases at the grocery and gas pump gets my vote. And no, "price gouging" is not the problem. That claim seems like Harris had no idea what to do.

My vote against Harris had nothing to do with the color of her skin or that she was a woman. I don't care about those things. It was 100% about policy. Bidenomics caused inflation. History shows Keynesian economic policies are a failure every time they are tried. Evidence suggests aggressive government spending actually helped extend the Great Depression. The so-called Inflation Reduction Act did nothing but increase spending and thus increase inflation.

I have been to Mexico. Not “vacation” Mexico, the real poverty stricken Mexico  I understand why those people want a better life they can find here. That does not mean we should not have secure borders. Protecting our borders is the responsibility of the government and the Democrats are derelict in that duty. Harris was in charge of the border and did nothing. In fact one of Biden’s very first actions upon taking office was to reduce enforcement of border controls.. 

The Vice President's failure to articulate a policy outside of abortion made it seem like she had no policy at all, and her one-time utterance that she would do nothing different than Biden, well, his unpopularity pretty much sums it up. 

We can start with that list. I will sum it up with a quote from a Democrat advisor: "Its the economy, stupid."

The bottom line is it was an election, not the apocalypse. Life goes on.  Had Kamala won I would be disappointed, but I wouldn’t waste a moment crying about it. 

It takes Congress to get a lot of the stuff done and it remains pretty much split 50/50. Relax Democrats, you will be fine. No one is going to put you in concentration camps. After all, only one political party in this country has ever resorted to that…

And the last and final point is that I’m not the only one who thinks this way. You have to face that the vast majority of voters rejected your politics. Not much else needs to be said. Except any time you can make Nancy Pelosi cry with the sadz it is a glorious day.

Maybe if she stood for something, anything …

 

Okay, I waited a day to gloat.  Ha! No, I didn’t. 

I have to say the liberals are having a collective meltdown of epic proportions. 

It is and always will be about “the economy, stupid,”

Want my advice? Perhaps it is not a winning policy to label 50% of the country racists, fascist, Nazis, and garbage merely because they disagree on some policy questions.

Where the Democrats are today

Look at that, three posts today

And my first one was the best and now it is buried, dang it.

Stay Classy, Kamala

 Harris never said a word of substance during her campaign. I should not be surprised Kamala Harris is a no-show when it comes time to concede, to thank her supporters, to address the nation. 

It reaffirms my opinion of that vapid, empty, and probably not nearly as smart as she believes herself to be presidential candidate . 

It is 10:30 AM EST and all we have from the Democrat candidate is bupkis.

At what point does this become election denial?  Asking for a friend…

What Gives?

I keep clicking that box on my computer screen that says “accept all cookies” but not a one has appeared at my door. 

By now I should have dozens of chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, sugar, or snickerdoodle cookies piled on the counter. 

I think I’m being scammed. 

Duty Done

I went to vote around 10AM. For the first time in a while there was a line.  I suppose It took around 45 minutes to wait and vote.

I get you want to make sure and vote wisely. One woman was standing at voting machine #2 when I came in. I waited. Showed ID and waited. I finally voted. The process once I got inside took about 20 minutes. The SAME woman was still standing at machine #2 when I left. 

Sheesh. 

Suck it up and do it

Go vote. 

It is perfectly acceptable to vote in your own best interests.

No, I’ll not wear the silly sticker after. 

I’ll say this, I got a text at 11PM last night. It was from the campaign of Mike Braun who is running for governor of Indiana. It ticked me off to no end. I’m sick of election texts anyway and sending one at bedtime is a jerk move. I was going to vote for him because he is marginally better than the alternative. I may vote for the democrat out of spite. 

It won’t matter, the Republicans have an iron lock on the Statehouse and a lefty governor has zero chance of implementing her agenda. 

Somehow, I find it strangely appropriate that today is Trash Day.  There is a metaphor in there I’m sure. 

Stolen

 

H/T MC

Now it’s in your head

 Flashback to 70s pop

A slice of Saturday

For as long as I can remember whenever I cross a State line. * I lean forward or stick out my arms to be the “first” one in the car across the line.  Of course I know it is goofy. 

The wife and I went on a little road trip yesterday. Living in central Indiana a couple of hours or so in any direction can put you into another state. Yesterday when we crossed back into Hoosierdom I reached out towards the windshield to earn my well deserved victory. The wife looked at me and shook her head.

I laughed. “After all these years you either think ‘He’s so weird’ or ‘that’s one of the many little charming things that makes me love him,’” I told her. 

She didn’t say anything . I laughed and prompted her, “You have lots of charming qualities, Joe.” 

Silence. 

I guess I know where I stand.

*when I cross into Indiana from Illinois on I-74 I always sing the opening lines to Back Home in Indiana. I don’t know why.  I suppose it is more than a quirk. I was weird even as a kid. 

PS try it the next time you cross any State line. Take any victory in life you can get.

A brief excerpt

It was a typical sunny Hawaiian morning. Joan Kowalski sipped black coffee while she skimmed the thick Sunday Honolulu Times. She was casually dressed in slacks and a blouse. An ignored cigarette burned in an ashtray at her elbow. The cigarette produced a trail of blue smoke that waved and curled in the gentle breeze from the open windows. Joan folded the newspaper expertly as she skipped to the jump page to finish an article. Across the enameled kitchen table Paula Jones wore her nightgown and a robe as she absently stirred sugar into her coffee cup while reading a page in a novel. She was hunched forward in concentration. Neither woman spoke. Music played softly on the radio. 

Alice Daughtry walked sleepily into the kitchen and headed straight towards the coffee pot on the stove. “Morning kids,” she mumbled. She was wearing silk pajamas that fit tightly across her large breasts. Alice yawned open-mouthed and stretched her arms above her head. Her top crept up, briefly exposing her flat stomach and navel. Alice rotated her head on her shoulders. Her brown hair was still sleep-tousled. She lit a Lucky Strike and reached for a coffee cup.

The roar of airplanes droned in the distance. Alice cocked her head and stared at the ceiling. “Sounds like the flyboys are at it early this morning.” She filled her cup from the metal percolator. “Edna gets off at eight, I better make another pot of coffee. You know how she is after working the overnight shift.” Edna Faber was their fourth roommate. Alice walked over to the table and poured the last of the pot into Joan and Paula’s cups.

“Huh, those planes seem pretty low,” Paula said. “There is a bunch of them.” She turned towards Alice, “You got in late last night Alice.”

Alice smiled and started to speak when her reply was cut off by distant popping sounds and what sounded like fireworks. “What the heck?” Alice exclaimed. She set the empty pot on the counter.

Joan walked outside barefoot followed by her roommates. Planes circled the distant harbor like flies at a picnic. She could see spurts of smoke and fire to the left around Hickam and more around Ford Island in the middle of Pearl Harbor. The air raid siren up the hill began to wail.

All three women looked at the distant base in awe. None thought to move despite the noise from the sirens blaring throughout Honolulu. The volume of noise grew. Puffs of smoke dotted the air from what Joan supposed were anti-aircraft guns. These made a lighter pop in the sky compared to the deeper thud of the bombs and larger boom of explosions as the torpedoes and bombs began to hit their targets. A buzz of machine guns was barely heard above the cacophony of explosions and the constant howl of the siren. 

The planes circled and dove in succession. The three nurses stood frozen in the yard. Suddenly there was a loud explosion, and a black spout of smoke and flame roiled from the harbor. “We are under attack!” Paula shouted. Her words woke something in Joan and called her to action. She sprinted into the house and pulled on some shoes. Joan immediately started jogging towards the hospital. Paula watched her go and headed into the house to pull on her uniform. Alice asked where she was going. 

“To the hospital, Alice. There are bound to be casualties.”

“But you are not on duty.” Alice whined. Paula gave her a withering look and followed in Joan’s wake.

Don’t fret, it is a first draft of a middle section. I hope to make it better with the inevitable rewrites. 

Pot meet kettle

I saw a campaign ad for Kamala Harris last evening. The spot  claimed “Donald Trump ended Rowe vs Wade.” 

No matter your position on that particular contentious issue, that claim is an out and out bold faced untruth aimed at ignorant voters. 

Yet the press repeatedly paints the Trump campaign as liars. 

Boo!

Today is beg or loot day or as you may call it, Halloween.  The weather has been fantastic all week , so it is fitting it is supposed to rain today. 

I like to pretend disdain for Halloween. In truth, I liked it as a kid. Strangely, the town I lived in allowed three days to trick or treat and I took full advantage of the situation. It wasn’t until we moved away after I was married that I understood the rest of America only celebrates Halloween one day. 

The houses that gave out Milky Ways or popcorn balls were my favorite. 

Before we moved here our neighborhood was inundated with costumed kids trick or treating. The streets and sidewalk were filled. It was like the movies or on TV. We would have literally (in the true sense of the word) hundreds of visitors. Usually, I did not even bother with the door. I sat on the stoop handing out candy.

This house is far different, I doubt we have had thirty kids total in the decade we have lived here. 

So that’s what you think

 Good to know. The Democrats first thought I was deplorable, now the President says I’m garbage.

Harris must think I am too, she has yet to condemn the hate speech. 

Well, fuck ‘em both. 

Intermission

I am busy at work this morning. In the interim enjoy some music:

There you have it

Nope. Nothing for this Monday. I could I launch an epic rant about football but it is certain you don’t care. 

We are looking for some nice weather early this week before more typical fall weather returns. 

I have plenty of work - the paying kind - to do. I guess you have to be satisfied with this throwaway post.

Read the people on the right instead.

Back on track

Enough seriousness. Relax with some music. 

I saw a squirrel running along my fence yesterday. That makes me happy.

Or it is a ghost squirrel, that does not make me happy.

Getting out in front

 In anticipation of the cries from those who do not understand the Constitution, we the people absolutely do NOT elect the President. Since our country is made up of a collection of States, those STATES elect the President. 

The number of “votes “ each state gets is apportioned based upon the individual state’s population. These are called electoral votes and the system was a compromise to ensure the states with smaller populations had a say-so in electing the President. Otherwise the largest states would dictate the election. 

The system works exactly as the founders envisioned. The last thing any of them wanted was a Democracy. 

That is why each state got two senators and the government of each state chose the Senator— they were to represent the State and the House represented the people. Too bad the progressives screwed that up by insisting senators be elected by popular vote. 

Now senators forget they represent the states and too many people fail to understand the difference. 

Before you cry about the electoral college learn some basic civics and history. 

A reader challenge

I normally strive for a no politics Friday. Not today.

Here is my challenge to you: tell me why I should vote for Harris without mentioning Trump. I don’t want to know why you are voting against the other guy, I want to know why I should vote FOR her. 

I think I asked this before without success, maybe not. 

I look forward for your answer. 

I will call you out and make fun of you if your comment is why you are voting against Trump. Please take note.

Sigh

 I thought for sure it was Friday. 

Mixing fiction and reality

In the classic thriller The Shining a family takes on a job as caretakers of a mountain hotel. Isolated and alone, Jack goes nuts and tries to kill his family.

Too bad no one thought to walk out the front door of the hotel. Down the hill from the Stanley Hotel, about a hundred yards away,  is a strip mall, including a pie shop and a McDonalds. 

The pie shop is pretty good. 

PS for me. Miss you Mom

Tommy can you see me

I’m heading back to the eye surgeon this morning. A week or two ago I developed another bleeder in my eye. This time it is the right one—my “good” eye. Anytime I look at a bright light or screen it is as if I’m looking through a spider web or perhaps a piece of gauze with a brown streak . I know what it is, I’ve been through this before. 

Last time he could not laser cauterize the bleeder and tried a shot (yes a needle in the eye). When that didn’t work we had to do surgery. I’m hoping he can just laser it away this morning. 

On the scale of things this ranks as a minor inconvenience. It is not a big deal. I’ll be back to work in a couple of hours. 

This is the backside of a famous place:

Do you know what it is?

A painful post

We are but a few weeks out from the election. There is no way in this world I will vote for the vapid Veep. 

At this point unless Trump finds some economic advisor who whispers advice into his self-righteous hard head I won’t vote for him either. That pains me because I firmly believe if you don’t vote you don’t get to complain.

Trump’s tariff plan will be an inflationary disaster. I outlined my reasoning in a previous post. Everything you buy, even food, is subject to the global economy. Like your avocados? Early grapes and corn? Where do you think those come from? Pineapple? 

For a business man Trump is woefully ignorant of the world outside of real estate and entertainment. 

If you believe the businesses or exporter will pay the tariff, you are an idiot too. Businesses don’t pay taxes. It is a cost that gets built into the final price. 

I’ve dealt with tariffs and dumping duties much of my professional life. That cost gets passed right on to the customer and once he builds whatever machinery he produces that cost rolls right to the end user. 

I’m all for encouraging us to Buy American. We need to expand our manufacturing base. We need to on-shore more production. This won’t make it happen.

Why did clothing manufacturers leave the Carolinas and off-shore the production of T-shirts? Because no one wanted to pay thirty bucks for a cotton shirt forty years ago. What do you think union wages and benefit cost would add to the price of a T-shirt today? 

We live in a global economy, whether we like it or not. 

Well you ain’t nothing but a rabbit

So we find ourselves once again on Friday. I, for one am glad. I need a break. Sure I was just on vacation last week. All the more reason to be worn out. One should ease back into work after a holiday or vacation with half days or something. 

The real truth is I love my job. I also think after every vacation I could retire without looking back in regret at all. I’ve been working since I was thirteen. I’m tired of it. On the other hand there is that pesky mortgage and bills. I like to eat. A roof over my head would be nice. So yes, I will work for at least five more years. I want to be able to have those occasional vacations. So it goes. 

No Friday music today. No Friday Five. I suspect no one minds. 

I finally did a bit of writing in the second book last night. I’ve settled on a title and actually designed the front cover last week. Strangely enough my inspiration was a novel I picked up for free from Prime Reading. It had a moderately interesting plot but the writing was awful. I mean middle school bad. I kept reading in the same way one rubbernecks a car accident. 

 I only pray that the general opinion of all eleven of you who read my first novel wasn’t “okay story but lousy writing.” If so,  please tell me. Honesty is way more important than my feelings.

I fear embarrassment more than anything. Except snakes. And maybe spiders. But certainly snakes for sure. I’d rather not share my work than embarrass myself. 

Anyway, I got some inspiration and I spit out four or five thousand words. It needs fleshing out, but the plot is finally moving forward. I’m sure you were all concerned about my progress. 

Have a great day. 

Can we all just agree?

I am certainly not the arbiter of taste, even if I should be. There are a number of acts in the Rock and Roll shall of Fame that probably do not belong there. Some deserving acts are left out. 

One act that gets far too much love and respect is the Sex Pistols. 

Believe it or not, this is deemed one of their best efforts. 

I have nothing against punk music. I just think maybe the musicians should be able to actually play their instruments before we put them into the HOF.

Your opinion may vary.

I yam what I yam

One thing I learned in my college study of history is that we all have biases. I believe it is clear to anyone who has read  this blog, whether for a month or the nearly twenty years I’ve been bloviating here, that I don’t just lean right, I am a full on conservative. I readily admit it.

I read many blogs and news sites. There is one blog I enjoy, that purports to take a middle of the road facts first approach. The only problem is the blog’s interpretation of facts always skews left. Always. The author is totally incapable of recognizing his/her bias. Which is fine, it is the hypocritical self-righteousness that galls me. 

I don’t care where you stand politically. Own it, even when you are historically, economically, and morally wrong to support liberal and progressive policies. At least do not pretend to be a great non-partisan watchdog when every time your opinion leans left. 

I make no claims of unbiased analysis. I’m certainly no Republican, but I  am a small government conservative.

I know what I am. 

In the mood

 I’m in a classic rock mood today. 

Meandering Monday

Fall has arrived. According to the forecast temps won’t reach seventy again until late in the week. It’s Okay.

I mowed the lawn yesterday. It won’t be the last time, but maybe not every week going forward. 

I made my most favorite meal for dinner yesterday: beef and noodles and yes, I’m a Hoosier so we had mashed potatoes  with them. There are leftovers for lunch. 

I have to pay the price for a week of vacation. My work email in box is filled to electronic overflowing. I have a conference call mid-morning and another this afternoon.

I did read some of the emails during the week and answered a few. 

The bottom line I enjoyed my time off. So the inundation of work is worth it. 

I sure said “I” a lot in this post. You would thing this thing was all about me. 

Go forth and have a great Monday. 

Rocky Mountain High

 

Last vacation picture. I promise 

The Front Range anyway. 

It was a great fall afternoon yesterday. I thought I’d enjoy a bit of time on the patio with a nice cigar. After some time I glanced to my right and there lay a dead squirrel. 

I enjoy my backyard squirrel. He amused me. Now it looks like he has gone to squirrel heaven. I hope it is filled with nuts and good stuff. And yes, I’m a bit sad to find one of God’s creatures has met his end. 

Dispatch from the Smokey Hill

My great great grandfather enlisted in the 7th Iowa Cavalry during the Civil Wsr. Instead of heading east to fight the Rebels, he was ordered west to guard the western travel routes against the godless heathen red-skinned devils. According to the regimental history his company patrolled along the Smoky Hill River across Kansas and up into Nebraska and Eastern Colorado. He was finally discharged in 1866 as a corporal. His pension records say he was wounded in the arm at some point. 

I have no idea what he thought of the Great Plains. Did he love or loathe the windswept prairie? He did not stay in the west after the war. For an unknown reason he made his way east, settling in central Indiana, an area equally as flat, if not more so, than west Kansas. 

Perhaps it is a passed on gene from my distant grandfather, but I love the Great Plains. For me there is hidden beauty in the open vistas and distant horizon. Maybe it is my youth spent reading Louis L’Amour westerns that inspires my admiration. Perhaps it is the histories of the plains wars and Native American biographies I devoured that inspires my admiration of the prairie? Can I blame Laura Ingalls Wilder? The names of forgotten cow towns and army posts ring nostalgic in my soul: Forts Riley, Lawrence, and Hays. The cow towns of Abilene, Wichita, and Dodge conjure dusty trails and smokey saloons I never knew. 

I guess I’m a romantic at heart. 

80 mph view from my car window

But why in the heck did my great great grandpa go from Ohio to western Missouri to Iowa and then end up in Indiana? That is opposite the migration after the war. 

Rambling’ Man

I am late to the blog this morning, I slept in. It is OK, I’m on vacation. I have been all week. 

We left last Friday evening and road tripped out to Colorado visit my son. After an all night drive we arrived in time for lunch. We had a wonderful time. It was great to spend time with my oldest boy/middle child. We had not seen him for nearly a year. 

We climbed back into the Grand Cherokee Wednesday afternoon and arrived back home yesterday morning. 

I love road trips. I’ve been doing them for work and fun for most of my life. The wife and I travel well together. I do not recover from driving all night as quick as I used to. Fifteen or sixteen hours in the car makes my body hurt. Add this trip only days after my visit to China and my body is just worn out. 

I’ve done four all-nighters in less than 2 weeks. 

The wife wants to go to Ohio today. 

I think we all know what I’ll be doing in a few hours. 

My butt hurts already. 

What he said

 

A bit west of Mudsock

 

More stuff I’ve seen

Stuff I saw yesterday

Not a completely awful cell phone picture
 

Now I know why Dorothy wanted out of Kansas

I have really tried to be a better person recently. When I see my fellow humans dressing or acting in what to me is silly, I have tried to withhold comment . 

It started with watching an old lady trying on shoes. She was sporting the worst-fitting, most poorly designed wig that looked like it came straight from 1972. Then it occurred to me that maybe she had been sick, perhaps cancer, and was doing her best to feel pretty. Who am I to poke fun, even if to myself?

 Fast forward tto yesterday. We slipped in to a McDonald's in Redacted Kansas for a quick breakfast. I moseyed into the restroom. There, standing at a urinal, was a man of at least my age or older, his pants and tighty whities pulled down around his ankles — his full moon shining for all to see. 

I looked down moved around him to the other urinal and unzipped my fly. He finally pulled up his pants and left. No, he did not wash his hands. 

So yes. I found this beyond weird. I’ve not seen a male completely drop his trousers to pee since my boys did it at around three or four years old. 

Maybe it is just me. I know things are different for the female of the species, but this was akin to a stranger next to you striking up a conversation at the urinal wall. It just shouldn’t happen. 

I have a feather pillow, where can I get some hot tar?

I read today FEMA is slow to respond to recent hurricanes because they are pretty much out of money. How is that you ask? It seems the Biden-Harris regime has used nearly one BILLION dollars of FEMA funds over the past two years to provide services and housing to illegals. 

Ponder that readers. The Democrsts took emergency money earmarked to help out you and your fellow Americans and gave it to criminals. 

There is an election next month. Do you want politicians who care more for American citizens or for those who come here illegally? Vote accordingly. 

Dear Democrats

 I’m following up on something I read about Mr. Kamala Harris. 

It was my understanding that paying off a former mistress was some kind of worst crime ever or something?

What about slapping around a different one?

Hello? Is anyone out there?

I flip the bird to the longshoremen

 Given the burden of inflation the Biden/Harris regime has placed on us all I am not surprised workers are looking for an increase in pay. I’m still working for the same salary I signed up for in 2022, so I am making about 20% less.

But come on Longshoremen, you want a 77% raise? F you. Your union president brags he will cripple the economy, spike prices, and ruin Christmas . No wonder I hate unions. *

So get ready for shortages. Prepare for more inflation. 

You are aware, if Biden ever came off vacation, he has the presidential power to force a mediation in this dispute. He won’t because the democrats need the union vote. And I’m not sure he is mentally up to it. Do we really want Mayor Pete heading up negotiations? I’d rather my 9 year-old granddaughter took the lead.

I spit on you all.

*I could write a month’s worth of posts about the unions.

Stuff the Commies can do

When I win the lottery this is what I want. An automatic toilet. The lid opens when you walk in the room. The seat is heated. A discrete fan whisks away any odor you may produce. When you finish your business, the lid closes and the stool flushes automatically. No more manual labor in the bathroom for me.

Look, if the Hangzou Bay Universal Hotel can have state of the art toilets, why can’t you and I? Don’t we deserve it?

*Yes this was my actual room. A king room with an extra sitting area—$85 a night. A similar hotel in a the States would run $300-$400 depending on your location.

I woke up remembering my coffee maker is broken

I’m back,  it was a good trip, far better than my last trip to the mysterious orient. Did I eat what most Americans would consider to be “weird shit”? Yes. Did I mange to feed myself with chopsticks? Yes. Was the customer visit, the reason for the trip,  a success? Yes. Did the travel to and thro suck? Absolutely. 

After steeling myself to climb into another airplane seat after a 13 hour first leg, we boarded the plane in Dallas and then sat there for an hour for a maintenance issue. On the other hand, an extra hour on an already long trip was way better than having the left engine fall off at 30,000 feet. 

Since I’m complaining, my one true skill in life, I have been awake approximately 34 of the past 40 hours. I will bitch-slap the next person who says it must be awesome to travel all over the world. 

Ok, it is and I’m a lucky man. Travel is not all fun and games though. 

Yet another

Discuss among yourselves any topic you desire. 

Here is some background music 

Hopefully, I am winging my way back from the Orient by the time you read this. A quick, brutal trip to China started at 3:00 am on Wednesday and will end around 2:00 AM Monday when I get back home. 

Perhaps I will have interesting tales to fill the blog this week. Probably not. 

It’s a canned post and I cannot predict the future. 

I have to can posts, Google is verboten in China.

No thanks

 

Goodbye Meta AI. Please note an attorney has advised us to put this on to protect our top blurbs. As Meta is now a public entity all tob blurbers must post a similar top blurb. If you do not, it will be assumed you are ok with Meta using your top blurb to train its top blurb AI. We do not give Meta or anyone else permission to use our top blurb.

Music to dance by

 

Put on your Dancin’ Shoes

 A local favorite from the old days you might not know.

No Friday Five today. I know, cry in your beer.

Some might call it payback.

Let me understand. Zelinsky endorses Kammy Harris. 

Now the Biden /Harris Administration sending billions more of your tax money to Ukraine.

I’m not a big believer in coincidence. 

Musical Interlude

 

Humpity hump day

There is no reason not to listen to this today:

And the winner is…

 Last week my old Keurig refused to pump coffee. I cleaned it and ran some vinegar through it and after a bit it started working. These things happen. I wandered downstairs mid-morning for my second cup of Joe yesterday morning and the machine refused to pump again. All I got was a serious of clicks accompanied by curses. The swearing was me not the machine. 

After dinner I ran down to the store and bought another jug of vinegar and tried to run it through. Nothing. I left it sitting all night, that usually does the trick. But this morning it still refuses to pump out even water. Disappointed does not begin to describe my feelings. I suppose I should not complain, that Keurig is around ten years old and is used every single day. 

I can grab a cup of coffee from the gas station down the street or I can go to the Starbucks about the same distance the other direction. I could drive down to Walmart and buy a can of coffee and brew a pot. Or I could just sit here and bitch about it to you while sipping leftover iced tea from last night’s supper for a caffeine fix. 

Here’s what I did…

We walked right past the lemon shake ups

I’m late to the old blogeroo this morning. It is of no matter since I really have nothing of interest to post. 

We had a good but uneventful weekend. On Saturday we visited a festival not so far away, then did a mini road trip through Hamilton and Madison counties. The wife did some shopping, I had some ice cream. 

We spent more time walking from the parking lot and back than we did at the festival. The wife couldn’t find anyone selling kettle corn and that was enough for her to vote us both right off the festival island.  While she did not get her sweet popcorn fix, she did get to spend all day with me, so I suppose it was a winning day for her anyway. 

On Sunday I watched TV all darn day. I did pause long enough to make a pot of chili and clean up the supper mess, but it was a wasted day. 

I know, this is not exactly riveting. It is my boring life though. 

Haves great Monday.

Friday Five revisited

We all have opinions. Of course, mine are far more valid than yours (snort). No seriously, for me rap music has no place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fane and while I love her music (in small batches) Dolly Parton does not either. 

 Yet without a doubt Rock music is undeniably the stepchild of country music and the blues. And country came straight from the coupling of gospel and slave dirges. Music is incest on a grand scale. So, while certainly not to my taste, perhaps rap belongs after all.

No artist bridges the gap of gospel, blues, and country quite like the granddaddy and candidate for most influential artist than the indomitable Elvis. No last name needed. He dragged “black music” into the mainstream with hip shaking fury and music was never the same. 

Of course the real bridge between country and blues and gospel and someone we should consider the true father of Rock and Roll — Little Richard. He was Elvis before Elvis, only Richard was ignored because he was black and gay and mostly because he was black. Jerry Lee Lewis was a white version of Little Richard, only he was accepted by white DJs because he had the one thing Little Richard lacked — fair skin. Jerry Lee was cool right up until he married his 13 year old cousin…in our lexicon of most influential rockers we have to add Little Richard.

Then came the Beatles. Those rebel music makers who did not grab a guitar because of Elvis sure did when the four lads from Liverpool showed up. In hindsight the Beatles phenomenon is sorta head scratching. Their early stuff was nothing special. Three cords, tight harmonies, sophomoric love songs. But somehow the redefined not only rock music, but culture. There is no debating this one.

One could write a whole dissertation on the change in rock music from the simple notes of early Beatles records to the complex melodies and lyrics just a few years later in the Doors, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, psychedelic rock, hard rock, etc. it was a mere five years from full-blown Beatlemania to Jimmie Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, or even the fantastic progressive sounds of Yes or The Moody Blues. 

Which brings me to number four: Led Zeppelin . They were not the first heavy metal band, but they redefined the genre. The first real arena rockers, they changed music in ways we had not seen before. Zep reworked old blues (stealing oftentimes from old records wholesale) and added folk and fantasy into a pounding guitar rich sound. How many eighties rockers just wanted to be Led Zeppelin?

Then from the excess of the eighties came punk rock. Barely able to play their instruments, I’m looking at you Sex Pistols, or are mostly the same three cords and melody repackaged from album to album — yes you Ramones, finally real musicians blended punk, rock, and world rhythms into The Clash. Their output was low, their influence great. 

There you have it. My list of most  influential Rock artists. 

Interesting enough, most of my favorite bands didn’t make the cut. I left off several artists that could have been included. The Eagles redefined and created a whole genre unto themselves. We did not discuss progressive rock and I absolutely ignored Motown. Did Michael Jackson have any less influence than the Clash? Where is Metallica or Pink Floyd in my list? How about the Sugarhill Gang or Disco? How about Cream or Hendrix? Do we even have Led Zeppelin without them? No Beach boys?  How do we ignore MTV?

Well, I certainly have fodder for many, many more posts. 

A hard one

Rock music has been a constant backdrop in my life. When you look at the evolution of the genre over the past seventy years there are many artist who redefined music. 

Name your top five most influential artists/groups in rock and roll for this week’s Friday Five (and your reasons) in the comments.

It may be hard to limit yourself to five. I will even allow ten, if you give your reasons numbers 6-10 must be considered.

I look forward to the comments.

Pass on by

So here’s the thing, I got up late. My Keurig refuses to pump coffee. I have two long conference calls on the calendar for today. 

A crappy mood does not even begin to describe the situation .

I stole this from MC

A Modern Mao in the Making

There are those of you who are convinced that should Trump get elected he will be the downfall of the republic, a tyrant, a dictator of Hitlerian or Stalinesque proportions.

The good news is there exists evidence of how he will govern, mainly through the previous term Trump had in office. So I ask of you, did he:

Open the borders in defiance of existing US law to anywhere from 10-20 million illegals?

Did he fly illegals all over the country in the dead of night to distant cities without warning at taxpayer expense?

Did he void existing oil leases and terminate oil pipelines doubling the cost of gas?

Did he, contravening US Law, fail to open bidding on new oil leases?

Did he not once but multiple times try to use taxpayer funds to pay off private loans in direct opposition to Supreme Court rulings?

Did he leave billions in military equipment behind in Afghanistan to a known terrorist organization?

Did he provide billions in cash to the terrorists-sponsoring Iranians?

Did he sick the IRS and FBI on United States citizens that may have a different political viewpoint?

Did he request that private social media companies suppress and censor political view points he did not agree with?

Did he kick out of the military those who refused to take an experimental vaccine?

Did he institute draconian energy and fuel requirements that will virtually prevent you from purchasing an internal combustion vehicle if you want to in the coming years?

Did he participate in a scheme to let his children sell access for foreign dollars? 

Did he encourage the justice department and local prosecutors to indict and prosecute his political rival?

Did he institute government spending and policies that drove inflation to levels not seen in generations?

Did he force schools to allow men to compete as women or allow girls to use the boy's restroom or boys to dress in the girl's locker room?

Did he oppose a law that requires someone to prove they are a citizen and have the legal right to vote?

Who did those things? Which candidate was a participant in these assaults on your freedom and our economy?  Which candidate has promised more of the same? I want to make sure I do not vote for anyone who governs this poorly, who cares so little about the rule of law, or for the general welfare of US Citizens. I'm asking for a friend.

All-time loser

Look, I could bore you with a local weather report (warm, dry) or I could send you snoozing with a soporific account of last night’s dinner (Mexican). I could launch a political diatribe. I might even opine on the second assassination of der Trumpster. 

None of that is going to happen. 

I know, but you will be fine.

Listen to this instead. It is the best song from their catalog:

When the moon is in the Seventh House

Welp we had a great weekend. The weather was warm and dry. Saturday we watched the youngest granddaughter play soccer then in the evening we went out for dinner to celebrate my daughter’s birthday. The grand girls asked if they could come over and spend the night and it was done. Sunday we went to hang out at our friend’s pool. It is likely the last time this summer . That’s a bummer.

Since it is Monday, how about I do my part to make your week start off on the wrong foot and put this ear worm into your head:

You are most welcome.

Dang hippies.

Just a thought

 

Five best sports movies

 Here is my list of the best sports movies:

1.Rocky

2. Bull Durham

3.Hoosiers

4. Pride of the Yankees

5. Tin Cup or Breaking Away (tie)

Honorable mention: Major League

I welcome a rebuttal if your favorite is missing

Yes, let’s have four more years of this

 

Not that one with the boxing kangaroo

I may have been doing this blog in the neighborhood of  thirty-seven years but that doesn’t mean I cannot make a few tweaks. 

For this week’s Friday Five I will solicit your input then offer my list later. 

What? I get to make the rules just because. 

What are the five best sports movies?

Let me know in the comments.

Look, it’s Friday the 13th, don’t temp bad luck by failing to participate. 

Where I go after the other side's dumb policy positions

The reasons for war are complicated. One cannot simply cite that Germany invaded Poland and started WWII. Why did Germany invade Poland? If we dig deeper we find the harsh reparations of WWI caused many of the factors that led to WWII. And many of the issues that surrounded the Franco Prussian War instigated WWI and so on and so on.

When we look to the Pacific and Far East of the 1930s we see issues that led to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was not that Japan decided they wanted to start a fight with the US. That kind of pure aggression would have been crazy in either a person or a nation state. I am going to focus on one of the strands of the gordian knot that is WWII. And believe it or not, there is a modern political point I want to make. To get to that point I will have to undertake some background as much for my own clarity as anything. And yes, I can see your eyes glazing over in boredom already.

This isn't classroom history, there will not be a test and there will not be a list of dates and names to remember. It is Hoosierboy history and I hope to make it moderately entertaining.  I will do my best to refuse to go down the various paths and tunnels that open up via my historical ADD and endeavor to stick to the main point. As always, I am certain there will be inaccuracies and errors and I welcome correction in the comments. Stay with me for a little bit and this long post will have a point. A long-winded point for sure, but that is my way. You should know that by now.

In the late thirties Japan was embroiled in a war with China. We will not get into the weeds with a discussion on that nasty bit of business, but only a passing mention that the aggression in China predates Hitler's European expansionism. If you want more information look up "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere". I would have opted for a better and more accurate name for the doctrine had I been in charge of Japan like "What's good for Japan is good for the rest of you East Asians because we said so" or something similar. 

Anyway, the Japanese were thrashing China like a schoolyard bully and worse (see Nanjing). In response, the good old US of A slapped an embargo in imports of oil and scrap steel to Japan. 

So what you ask?

Japan is slightly smaller than California. A beautiful country, it lacks the natural resources of the Golden State. In particular, to feed their early twentieth century burgeoning manufacturing and increasing demand for war materiel, Japan needed oil and steel. Guess what pre-war nation had loads of oil and cheap steel? Ta-da, the greedy Americans. Our exports supported the Japanese economy. To show our disapproval of Japan's on-going nastiness in China we said we won't ship you anymore oil and scrap steel so suck it up Tojo. 

Japan looked around and noticed that Malaysia and the Philippines and Vietnam and many of the countries in Southeast Asia had resources Japan could use. Much to Japan's chagrin, other countries like the British and French and the Dutch and the Americans were already sucking up those natural resources. Sure, Japan reasoned, we could just go and take what we want; all of those other countries have their hands full fighting that Hitler guy and the powerful German military machine. Who is going to stop us?

Wait, they discovered, those boys over in America are not at war. What if the Americans decide to intervene? "We cannot win a war with the United States long-term," said the military experts. Heck, the Japanese military leaders thought (but would never ever ever say it aloud), we are having issues subduing the backwards Chinese and Koreans. 

One bright fellow said how about we destroy their navy? Either we will hurt them so bad it will take years to recover or maybe, if we are lucky, the Americans decided the pain is not worth the fight and we can work out favorable terms? We have nothing to lose, he reasoned. So the Japanese army and navy drew up plans to take over the Pacific and Southeast Asia in one fell swoop. They devised secret plans and camouflaged their training; a waste of time since no one was really looking anyway. The Europeans were embroiled in their own war, most of the Australian army shipped of to fight for the British in Africa, and the Americans were being Americans, too busy watching and secretly making side bets on that big to-do in Europe. 

Then Surprise! on December 7, 1941 (I know I said I would not clutter up this already too-long post with dates, but that one is important) and the Japanese attacked our fleet at Pearl Harbor Hawaii and sunk a good chunk of the important ships. Except the aircraft carriers were not at home and the Japanese said "Oh Crap" and hightailed it to see what would happen next. What happened was lots of death and destruction. 

Why am I telling you all of this interesting but perhaps not yet obviously pertinent information? Well I am glad you asked. Let's fast forward about 85 years. The big dog in Asia is now China. Their manufacturing plants spew out cheap goods of various quality levels ranging from excellent to poor. Many of those goods are shipped to the US to the tune of around 500 billion dollar's worth. That is about 15% of China's economy. To put that in scale, Walmart would be one of China's top ten trading partners if it was its own country. Don't think Target or any of your other favorite stores are any different (hello Family Dollar). 

What do you think the world's second largest economy (and second largest military) will do when Trump slaps a 60% tariff on Chinese goods? They will certainly retaliate. Half of our soybean exports go to China. It is estimated that US exports to China account for 1.1 million US Jobs. China dominates the supply chains for critical and everyday goods into the US. China will not take destroying 15-20% of their economy laying down. In the best case, everything you buy will go up in price. A lot. Domestic and other foreign manufacturers will not be able to cover the increased demand and prices will soar. No one, even the Communists, can escape the immutable law of supply and demand. You will pay more for goods, supposing you can get them. Think inflation sucks under Biden? Try on Trump's tariff plan. 

The worst case scenario is the Japanese approach from the last century. Desperate countries strike out. The last thing the Chairman wants is a billion hungry and angry Chinese peasants. Tiananmen Square scared the pants off the Communist Party in China. They are not going to let some stupid Americans foul up the works. 

Whether we like it or not, since the fall of the Soviet Union, a big chunk of the world is sick of the United States lording it over everyone. Plenty of nations would not mind seeing our country reduced a size or two and if China started it, would certainly like to get in a kick or two while we are down. Can anyone be certain the French or Germans or Japanese would join in on our side? They may not jump to China's aid, but I bet there would be a bunch of neutrals out there. 

History never repeats, but it does offer lessons.

On this day…

In 2001 Muslim fanatics attacked the United States killing thousands. 

Hamas  and their supporters cheered in the streets. 

Open borders and unfettered immigration is allowing who knows what potential terrorists into the country. 

Never forget. 

READ THIS

What do you stand for?

 These are some of the policy positions Kamala Harris has supported:

Ending ICE

Increased taxes

Forced EV mandate

Ending fracking

Reducing drilling on Federal lands and voiding existing oil leases

Mandatory buyback of guns she finds scary

Free healthcare for all including illegal immigrants

Taxpayer funding for sex change operations for illegals in detention 

Defunding police

Decriminalized drugs — including marijuana, heroin, crack, fentanyl, cocaine 

Abortion right up to the moment of birth

If these seem reasonable and good ideas, vote for Harris. If you are appalled then you need to vote against this nonsense. I said it below, the election is about policies, not personalities. Vote accordingly.

That’s my money

There is one position Kamala Harris has yet to flip and flop on. Although to be fair she hasn’t flipped and flopped her spokespeople say she has, she’s not talking. That way she can go back to her far-left nut job positions as soon as she’s elected. Harris will anyway, she’s a lying politician just like the rest of them. Of either party.

Anyway, Harris will let the current tax cuts expire. Your taxes will go up. Yes, it wasn’t just the rich who got a tax cut when Trump was in office last time. You got a tax cut. Of course, in typical Democrat fashion they do not consider it a tax hike, after all, as far as they are concerned, you are just paying what they deemed was their money to spend all along. 

So while you are considering the 25% more you’re paying for everything, be prepared to roll in a tax hike in your budget. 

This isn’t an election about personalities, it is about policies..

It always is. 

Bad case of the Mondays

I backspaced over the entirety of my post this mourning before I hit publish. It was unimaginably negative, even for me. 

Did you ever watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s? Yep, it’s the mean reds. 

High Hopes

It is an another chilly day to start the week. The always accurate weather people on the local news promise summer will be back with 90F temperatures later in the week. 

The grandgirls spent the night last night. We had a great time. We had Mexican from their favorite place for supper then came back and played games until bedtime.We are going to have fried biscuit donuts for breakfast. They like to help form the donuts.

The NFL is back in action today. Csn the Colts end a decade of opening day losses? I am not confident they can. So it goes. Life is better when your team wins, but it doesn’t really matter in the long run. 

I’ve been a life-long Cubs fan. I’ve come to expect a high level of losing in my favorite teams.

Have a great Sunday.

Okay, you think you got a pretty face

I’m just not in the mood to perpetuate the normal flippant time wasting garbage I normally post at this here website. 

Instead I offer up a forgotten but certainly not obscure bit of 70s glam rock:

Not the Bridges of Madison County

Way, way back when this blog was young I used to have a feature called the Friday Five. I created the definitive list of stuff and ranked the results. If I remembered correctly, you hated it. You did not comment anyway. Since what I really want is an argument discussion, lack of feedback made me let it die.

Until now. 

Yes, Dear Readers, I’m bringing back the Friday Five. I can feel your excitement. 

This week- the five best Clint Eastwood movies.

1. Outlaw Josey Wales

2 Pale Rider

3. Dirty Harry

4. High Plains Drifter

5. A Fist Full of Dollars

I’m not going to lie, I really like Every Which Way but Loose, Trouble with the Curve*, and Heartbreak Ridge. 

I suspect some of you will prefer Unforgiven. 

Make your arguments in the comments.

*This didn’t do well at the box office but I liked it. It’s a baseball movie.

Money saving tips

 This older couple were sitting on the front porch in their rocking chairs talking about how they could save money on various necessities.

All of a sudden, the old man reached over, grabbed the woman’s breast and said, “You know, if these gave milk then we could get rid of the cows.” The old woman didn’t say anything so he moved his hand.

A few minutes later he reached over again and put his hand on her crotch. The old man said, “You know, if that could lay eggs then we could get rid of the chickens.” The woman didn’t say anything so he moved his hand.

A few minutes later, the old woman reached over, grabbed the husband's crotch and said, “You know, if this worked, we could get rid of your brother.”